Jed and Rufus

In addition to my sons, our family also has two other boys that keep us hopping. Jed, our yellow lab, came to us from a friend of Krista's in Houston. He has never missed a beat in his relocation to our home. By all accounts, he is a perfect dog....and has been since we got him. He has always been a great house dog, even when he topped out at 90 pounds or so. When he needs to go outside, he walks to the door and patiently (and very quietly) waits for someone to open the door for him. He then goes out (unsupervised), does what he needs to do, and then comes back to the door. If its left cracked open he gently pushes through it. The only thing that he doesnt do is close the door behind him. He has been great with the kids from the time that they were little. He was very happy in his life as our only dog.....then Rufus arrived.

My wife called me one day to tell me that one of her coworkers had been driving down the Interstate when she noticed cars swerving in front of her. She then saw a tiny black lab prancing down the middle of the interstate. She quickly pulled off the interstate, ran out into traffic (not kidding), and rescued the pup. She brought it to work where everyone ooh'd and ahh'd. As my wife was describing this to me and how cute and adorable he was, I was saying to myself...."Crap....we are about to get another dog". My fears were confirmed when she called to say that they were having trouble finding the puppy a home. She asked the question, "If we cant find anyone to take him, do we want him?" Hearing a sense of longing and a bit of desperation in her voice, I said, "If there are no other options, we can take him." Since then, we have considered taking him back to the interstate several times.

Since he arrived at the house, Jed has aged at least twice his normal rate. He nips, bites, and generally annoys the crap out of him all the time. I am sure that in his own doggy way, he said, "What the heck is this?....Why are you doing this???" when we brought him home. Now, whenever Rufus does what Rufus does, Jed looks at us with this expression, "See.....I told you not to keep him...". Rufus is about 8 months old now, and is taller than Jed, who is 10 years old. He is a puppy in every sense of the word. He chews, pees, craps, and generally wears us out on a daily basis. In direct opposition to Jed, when we let Rufus out, he just wanders around sniffing and digging wherever he chooses. After about 20 minutes, we are ready for him to come inside. Then the fun begins from his perspective. We tell him to come inside, and use every enticement that we can think of. He just stares back at us with a look that screams, "Huh?" Then when we reach the point were we have exhausted our patience, we go out into the yard to "coax" him back inside. That's where he begins to dodge, dip, dart, and generally make fools out of us. I can only imagine what our neighbors are saying...."Honey, that guy is running around in his boxers chasing that dog again...."

They have given us some funny stories though....well....they are funny now. Krista called me on the phone one afternoon. We had just returned from a trip, and she was picking up the dogs from the boarder. She had them in the minivan and was on her way back to the house. That's when she looked into the rear view mirror and saw Rufus in that familiar "hunch" to dog owners, and began to smell another familiar odor. She screamed..."Nooooooooo! ......" to no avail....although he did have a very distressed expression during the act, according to Krista. I couldnt help laughing while she was describing what had happened, but she didnt find it as funny. Another time, I woke up around 11pm when I felt Rufus jump on the bed. As I tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes, I heard a familiar sound. It sounded like a fountain.... As my eyes came into focus, I heard Krista ask....."Is he peeing on me??....." Sure enough, he was standing at the foot of the bed relieving himself and "marking" his mommy. Yep, there are times that I hear that Interstate calling...... and I catch Jed looking at me with an expression that couldnt say "I told you so" any more clearly than if he could speak.

Josh and Matthew

My boys are two of the most incredible little human beings that I've ever seen. Josh, my 11-year old, is thoughtful, sensitive, and very much in touch with the world around him. He is very passionate about his hobbies and interests, currently soccer and paintball. Matthew, my 8-soon-to-be-9-year-old, is my daredevil. If there's a ramp, he'll jump it. He is also very passionate about his hobbies, which over the last year have ranged from origami (he taught his class how to make all of the animals that he learned how to make on YouTube...), magic (again, he put on magic shows using all of the tricks that he learned on YouTube....), arts and crafts (anything that you can imagine....our house is full of scraps of paper and anything else that you can imagine), and whatever else he comes across. Both of them are very mature and extraordinary young men. Many people tell me so on a regular basis, and their teachers tell me about how intelligent and creative that they are. We know all of these things to be true..... then we come home and begin our night-time routines....

Most nights at the Parker household probably resemble many other households of parents with younger children. The typical homework, dinner, shower, pajama, tooth brushing, and other mundane routines that we do EVERY night... This is pretty standard stuff. Homework....assuming that all books and assignments are brought home and brought to our attention....is generally not that complex and difficult of an issue. The aforementioned assumptions usually are.... Dinner is normally also not that big of an issue. It is usually out of a box or a can (neither my wife or I are chefs), and our boys are pretty good eaters. Showers....this is where we normally hit our snags. After we use our household intercom to get their attention above their closed doors and blaring televisions (consists of either me or their mother screaming across the house...), we summon both children. First, we have to determine who will go first, which generally devolves into an argument about who has gone first for the last forty-seven times (much to my Mom's chagrin, I have resorted to a coin flip....simple, easy, and incontrovertible). Then we give instructions.....basically, wash your hair and wash your body. After we determine who goes first, the unlucky victim turns the water on for what seems like an hour and waits for it to get hot enough. During the wait, a strange phenomenon occurs. It seems when you combine the lack of clothing and the mirror in the bathroom, a sort of delirium sets in, complete with strange facial expressions and body spasms... When the appropriate temperature is reached (apparently it takes 10-15 minutes for this to occur...after enough water has gone down the drain to fill Lake Ponchetrain), they gets in. Then they stand there......and stand there....and stand there. After another 10-15 minutes, the intercom again is used when we request an update on their progress. They are usually finishing washing their hair. When the unlucky victor emerges, we do a cursory examination (smell their hair, look over their bodies...usually to find a patch of dry hair on the front of their head because they didnt want to risk soap in their eyes...). Assuming a follow-up wash is not required, we summon the winnder of the coin flip to start round two. The cycle continues as our patience and strength disappears. As each completes their shower, we give specific instructions (the SAME instructions EVERY night) about getting their pajamas on, brushing their teeth, taking out contacts, etc. Rarely are the tasks completed with out a follow-up request, but we get lucky on occasion. They whole time that we are using our intercom and issuing these instructions, I keep thinking... they are going to get it someday. My wife keeps counting down an imaginary clock saying that she has until they are 18 to train them to go out into the world and be self sufficient. I don't have the heart to tell her that in all likelihood they will be typical males that still struggle with the aforementioned mundane tasks into adulthood. I know my children are brilliant, intelligent, and creative beings that have unlimited potential. I just hope that there is not a section on "Showering" on the S.A.T. or A.C.T. ......

Susan

My wifes mother, Susan White, passed away this last Saturday. We were blessed to have her staying in our home, and she passed surrounded by those that she loved and those that loved her dearly. She had struggled for years against a body that was failing her before she answered God's call to come home. Experiencing the death of someone close to you is never easy. Trying to figure out how to explain that passing to two young boys is even harder. As I tried to support my wife and her family through this tragedy, I was amazed at her strength and emotional stability in the face something so terribly taxing. Susan, also known as Gigi, was a truly incredible person. She always tried to look on the bright side of everything. She never met a person that should couldn't have a conversation with, and she made friends in the strangest places. She never got lost....she just had adventures finding new routes to get to where she was going. She found joy in the most mundane tasks, particularly if they required a trip to any store. She loved our family more than life itself. Her grandchildren, Josh and Matthew, lit up her life and made her soul sing. She loved my wife, her only daughter, with all of her heart. She was a loyal and caring wife. I know that she has found a purple cloud (her favorite color) in Heaven and will be watching over us while she is snacking on her peaches and her other favorite sweets. We will miss her terribly.